A Sign Of Possession
by VisualIDentificationZeta
Summary: HarmJen SUMMARY: Do you have something to confess, Petty Officer? COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: A Sign Of Possession

AUTHOR: Vid Z.

PAIRING: Harm/Jen

WARNINGS: a LOT of fluff and Romance

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc of the TV show JAG are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fic. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: right, this fic was started almost 6 months ago, but was left unfinished for 4 of them because of a writer's block. The inspiration came from a talk I had with one of my friends when she told me her husband always complains when she wears his clothes (if you are reading this, thanks for giving me the idea for this fic!). Speaking as a man, there are very few things sexier than seeing the woman you love wearing your clothes. Except if you wear that shirt later and your buddies make fun of you because of the weird shape of it in the area of the chest...

SPECIAL THANKS: to Suz for beta-reading this baby for me (well, at least the first half, until I hit a writer's block and left it to sit for months.).

SUMMARY: Do you have something to confess, Petty Officer?

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"You know, when a woman wears a man's clothes, it means she considers herself as his." Harm kept his serious face as he walked towards Jen who was staring at him with eyes wide from shock.

"Now, do you have something to confess, Petty Officer?"

Jen's eyes grew even wider, if that was possible. Harm barely stifled a smirk at the look of shock on her face.

Was he serious? He certainly looked that way. 'Oh god, what did I get myself into?'

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The thing is, everything was supposed to have been so innocent. Most of her clothes were in the laundry and she had no comfortable clothes in which to lounge around in after a hard day at work. Mattie's tops were all too snug, since Jen's breasts are much more generous than most women, and she didn't want to wear anything constricting at home. She had enough of that at work.

A brilliant idea came to her, or so she thought. She would borrow one of Commander Rabb's old T-shirts, one that he didn't use anymore and when her laundry was dry, she would just wash the shirt and return it to where she had found it. Later, when he returned from his investigation, she would mention that she borrowed it. Simple.

At least it was simple until Harm returned from an investigation sooner than expected, catching her in his apartment, wearing his T-shirt and nothing else. At least that's what he thought, since the T-shirt was long enough to conceal the boxers she wore underneath. She was well aware of the Commander's approving look, the shock at seeing her like that letting it slip. For a moment she thought she saw his eyes darken, seeing her in that shirt, before the intense gaze scorched her legs which were almost fully on display. Her very nicely muscled legs were something she was very proud of, but the appreciating look from the man she had to keep reminding herself was off-limits did nothing for her composure.

He had repeatedly told her that if she needed something out of his apartment she could just borrow it, but to let him know what it was so he could replace it in case it was a consumable.

She was just looking for the leftovers of the vegetarian lasagna he had made for them three last night, when he walked in, and found her bent over, with her head stuck in the fridge, ass in the air and most of her legs exposed. Being a vegetarian was just one of the many things she and Harm had in common; however he and Mattie differed on many things, such as his views on eating a dead cow.

His gasp of surprise alerted her to his presence, for she was too engrossed in her hunt to hear the door being opened.

She quickly shot up straight, blood draining from her face at what was a pretty compromising position and situation. Being found in a superior officer's apartment, even though expressly allowed, while wearing his clothes was certainly not something any freedom-oriented Petty Officer would ever do. But the blood quickly returned to her face with reinforcements at the realization of how she was dressed.

A fierce blush colored her face as she realized just how revealing the T-shirt was, the blush turning to fire-engine red when she saw his quick, unguarded look of approval. Unbidden, a warmth flooded her heart at the thought that he found her attractive.

She was already starting to offer apologies when he suddenly staggered her with his next words.

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	2. Chapter 2

AN: come on, lazy bones, review! It won't kill you, I promise. Over 200 hits and just 2 reviews. Well, it's better than with "It won't fit" where it's over 400 hits and just one review. And I thought it was quite a funny fic... And not one review for the last part of "Tricked". I'm gonna start holding my fics hostages: at least 2 reviews for a new chapter. I have them all completely finished, just waiting for responses to continue posting. I'm not asking for praises, I want constructive critiques, what you liked or disliked, what could've been better, if I made an error,.. or if you simply want more. So, push that violet button to submit a review. You can do it!

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Harm had always enjoyed playful banter -one of the things he loved about Mac's company during the first 4 years of their partnership, at least until the things between them turned sour when he came back from flying and playful teasing turned into harsh words and insults. They'd tried to regain their friendship after the whole Brumby fiasco, but things were never the same again. Paraguay and Mac's relationship with Webb had just hammered the final nails into the coffin of what was once an amazing friendship, one he often believed to be able to withstand anything. They took it all for granted - how stupid they were.

Thankfully he had found a good friend and a worthy opponent in banter in his ward's room-mate.

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When Harm first walked in, he was assaulted by the vision of Jen in a large T-shirt, bending over at the waist and looking into the refrigerator. His gaze was immediately drawn to her tight derriere and then to her long, bare legs. He had to acknowledge that she definitely had a great figure, one that many women would kill for.

He heard a gasp and was surprised to realize it was his own.

Jen's reaction almost caused him to break down laughing. It took a herculean effort, but he did manage to stop the laugh that was bubbling to get out.

It was immediately obvoius who's T-shirt she was wearing. While Harm knew that some women owned large clothes for wearing at home, the large letters in black gave everything away. Since Jen wasn't a student of the Naval Academy and Cheggwidden definitely hadn't given her the shirt, there was only one option to whom it belonged.

He didn't mind, it was an old shirt, one he didn't wear anymore and if she wanted it, she could have it, besides he liked the sight of her wearing his clothes, which gave him an evil idea.

Given her state of shock, he had the ultimate upper hand in the battle of wits to which they often engaged.

He decided to go for it.

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"You know when a woman wears a man's clothes, it means she considers herself his." The look on her face was priceless and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing.

Summoning every shred of control he managed to don an emotionless mask.

"Now, do you have something to confess, Petty Officer?"

Slowly he started to walk towards her, to empower his words as much as possible. This was fun. The only trouble was to keep himself from laughing. Poor Jen, at this rate her eyes would fall out of their sockets.

"A woman wearing a man's clothing is a sign of possession. A sign that she belongs to the owner of those clothes." he paused a little for dramatic effect "Are you trying to tell me something, Jen?"

By now he was only 2 feet away from her, but the sudden glint in her eyes had him worried. She had been spending a lot of time with him and Mattie and had taken over some of his quirks. The tendency not to hold back mischief was just one, and it was this one that had him worried.

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Jen recovered and quickly thought up a plan. She put on her best innocent expression and said gravely.

"Yes, I do. I have something important to tell you."

She approached him until they were separated by mere inches so he could feel the heat of her body, stopped and put her arms behind her back, which pushed her ample breasts forward. When she knew she had his attention she leaned towards him and whispered, her breath tickling his neck and ear, making him shiver and his body to respond.

"All my comfortable clothes are in the laundry."

With that she shashayed out of the apartment laughing, almost touching him but being careful not to and leaving a dumbfounded Harm behind.

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There were very few things that could shake his control, and the considerate female wiles of one particular Petty Officer were one. This vixen knew exactly that and took advantage of it. The way she knew him so well scared him sometimes.

'Damn' Harm groaned 'I can't believe she did that. She's getting quite good at this.'

Thinking back, he remembered her shiver when she noticed him looking at her. Something he'd seen before only in Diane's eyes was present in her own and that he was sure it was also in his eyes. He knew what it was, but didn't acknowledge it because it would just complicate matters unnecessarily.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and of the image of Jen in his shirt and went to take a shower and change into his home clothes.

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	3. Chapter 3

AN: ff. net seemed to be playing up and then it was already too late and I had to go to sleep. It's early morning now as I upload this thing, so enjoy.

Sorry for the part being so short, but the next one is longer and couldn't find a way of cutting it in half.

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The next day Jen returned his shirt washed, ironed and folded. Although he made it clear she could keep it as a backup in case she ran out of clean clothes again, she gave it back. With her wearing his clothes they were straying into an inappropriate area as it was. They didn't want to get court martialled for fraternization in case someone else saw her wearing it, which is why he didn't press her to keep it.

He took the shirt from her and put it back where had Jen had found it. At the same time he noticed a different scent coming from it. Jen had a nicer smelling detergent, but he resolved not to wear this shirt anytime soon. If any of his pals saw him wearing it and noticed the flowery scent (and the stretched out fabric in the chest area from Jen's full breasts) he was sure he would never live down the teasing. On the other hand he didn't want to hurt Jen's feelings by washing it himself again in case she ever borrowed it again and noticed it smelled differently.

He was in trouble and he knew one day his propensity to try to avoid hurting other people's feelings would come back and bite him in the six.

Which is just what happened a few days later at work.

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He crossed paths with Jen in the corridor, when he was just on his way into the break room and she was on her way to the law library of the HQ.

They smiled and nodded a greeting, passing each other in the narrow corridor when Jen suddenly froze as if shot.

Harm noticed the sudden lack of foosteps sounding in the hallway, stopped and turned to see what was wrong.

She stood still for a moment, then turned back to him with an expression that eerily reminded him of the one a few days before. He looked at her puzzled at what was wrong.

She then approached him with halting steps, as if he was a wounded animal ready to attack at any time.

When she was just a foot away she said, while not meeting his eyes "Please, don't take this the wrong way, sir."

Then she delicately sniffed the air and her eyes grew wide in horror.

"Oh, god. I'm so sorry, sir." she cried out and hurried away.

He knew he couldn't be smelling bad because he was always very aware of hygiene and groomed himself carefully. As a Commander in the US Navy, a lawyer and a pilot, who had been on the front pages of newspapers regularily over the years, he had to.

He looked around to make sure no-one was looking and took one quick sniff at himself. With dismay he realized what it was that had Jen so troubled.

He had all of his clothes stored in one closet and this was the cause of it all. Although subtle and smelling very nice, the scent of Jen's clothes detergent had spread from the T-shirt she had borrowed to all over the closet and now all his clothes smelled of it. **_All. Of. Them. _**

Including his uniforms. All of his uniforms. There wasn't a single one at cleaners to help him escape this fate.

'Damn.'

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AN: I'm taking votes: what would Mac do if she entered Harm's apartment because the door was open and saw Jen there, wearing nothing but a Naval Academy T-shirt, still slightly damp from a shower (in her own apartment) and a trail of clothes leading into the bedroom (Harm's from when he returned from his morning job and took a shower). Harm and Mac are not involved with each other in this scenario, Mac is with Webb. Harm and Jen are also not involved and nothing happened between them, much less sex. Mac would be jumping to wrong conclusions (as if that would be anything new--Bobbie, Alicia, Inez, Catherine; Harm had nothing with any of these women yet Mac still made wrong assumptions and ran, feeling rejected - in Catherine's, Alicia's and Inez's case she had even told him 'never' before that and pushed him away, which she admitted to in "4 percent solution".).

My question to you is: Would she report them for fraternization out of some kind of feeling of duty or vengeance for his choosing another woman or would she be happy for them, doing nothing?

Keep in mind that both Harm and Mac have been proven countless times on the show that they are jealous people. I would really love to know your opinion of this.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Has anyone else been having issues with receiving story-author alerts, PMs,... I've been getting none in my mailbox for the last few days, not even review alerts, even though you've all been so nice and reviewed my fics. I'm hoping that it's not something on my side, or my mail provider's side; but on ff. net's side.

Thank you all for voting. I think I'm gonna write a fic for each scenario. Am already working on BadMac, but will try to not it end with her being a monster.

qball: Had the same problem (?) with my girlfriends too. I completely agree with you on all points. Thank you for sharing.

Now on with the fic!

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He had to admit he was acting a little paranoid. It's not like everyone who looked at him today was silently accusing him of sleeping with the Admiral's yeoman. He also had to admit most were probably puzzled over his uncharacteristic behaviour, like being really nervous and jumpy.

And then there was Sturgis. He had been silently observing him all day every time Harm was out of his office and it was making Harm edgy.

Yep, Sturgis, his friend, dear old pal, his roommie from the Academy was studying him like a particularily interesting bug under the microscope.

There was a puzzled frown marring his visage, which indicated that he was busily processing some interesting information, and Harm just _knew _it wasn't about a case. The looks Sturgis kept sending him were indication enough.

The looks Sturgis then sent towards Mac's office and the shake of his head just confirmed it.

He knew it was just a matter of time before Sturgis confronted him.

Sturgis showed up at his office an hour later and after a few minutes of talking about weather, cars and basketball Harm had had enough.

"What is it that you really came here for Sturgis?"

"Okay, you got me there. I didn't really come here to talk about all that. You know me too well old buddy."

"I should, seeing as we have been friends for over 20 years. So, what's up?"

"I have noticed something different about you today. Is that a new haircut?"

"Sturgissss." Harm drawled, rolling his eyes at his friend's evasiveness.

Sturgis grimaced and conceded defeat. He couldn't dance around the issue any longer.

"Okay. I just wanted to say that you should avoid Mac today."

Harm decided to pretend ignorance. "Why?"

"Because you smell like a girl."

Harm snorted, barely restraining his laughter.

"Sorry. What I meant to say is, that your clothes smell like they've been washed by a woman. You usually use a different detergent."

Harm raised both his eyebrows "You know the smell of my washing detergent? What did you do? Go about sniffing at other people?"

"Right, just be a smart-ass, Rabb." This time they both broke out in laughter. When they calmed down Sturgis continued.

"Actually, you always use a detergent that is appropriately smelling for a man, but today you smell all flowery. Definitely girly, and Mac isn't someone who would use a flowery smelling detergent, but one that is smelling spicy, heady. That leads me to believe that you are involved with someone and that someone isn't Mac. Either that someone washed your clothes or her clothes - whether at the time on her person or not - came into contact with yours, which would still make it quite an intimate relationship. It would just be better if you avoided Mac so she wouldn't catch a whiff of your scent, cause then she would again be in a bad mood again and JAG would suffer, not to mention you yourself would suffer. Especially since it looks like it's _that _time of the month for her which would make her even more aggressive towards you."

Harm was quite impressed with his friend's observations.

"Sometimes it looks like that time is all the time for her, without ending. Besides, why would she be bothered with me being involved with someone? She made her choice and she chose Webb. Not me. I think with that decision she lost the right to complain." was Harm's firm reply.

Sturgis knew that his friend was completely right about Mac throwing that right away, but he had a feeling that Mac wouldn't see things that way. In her opinion she had the right to be jealous when he was with other women, but Harm didn't have that same right when she was involved with other men. Which would explain what she had once told Harm when she was involved with Brumby, that her private life was off-limits to him, but she had the gall to constantly meddle in his private life and question his choices in girlfriends and decisions he made concerning his private life. Harm had had a few drinks by then and it probably wasn't something he had meant to reveal.

Harm could see the doubt on his friend's face and decided to disband his fears.

"But, to reassure you, I'm not involved with anyone. Mattie borrowed one of my T-shirts and then washed it. It seems that the scent of her detergent spread over the other clothes in the closet."

Harm didn't like to lie to Sturgis, but he also didn't want to get Jen nor himself into trouble. Even though Sturgis was his friend, he was also a stickler for rules and regulations and had a stick the size of a yardarm stuck up his six when it came to regs and Harm wasn't sure that he wouldn't report them both for fraternization, no matter how untrue the allegations may be. Sturgis sometimes valued regs more than he valued anything else. He knew that was a bit unfair to his friend, but the situation was just too delicate and dangerous for anyone to know.

"But, I'll be sure to stay clear of Mac, just to avoid any trouble."

Sturgis sagged with relief and nodded gratefully. Then he rose, said goodbye and left the small office.

Harm looked after him deep in thought. He sighed and buried his head in his hands 'Everything is such a mess. I'm avoiding Mac, the Admiral, my friends, Jen, my feelings for her and her feelings for me, hell I'm avoiding everybody and everything! I should just marry Jen and everything would solve itself.'

Harm's head shot up at that thought, eyes wide and an idea forming in his head. Although there had been no officer/enlisted fraternization trial in quite a while, he remembered something about the frat regs that could help him.

He secured his office and headed towards the Law Library, intending to spend the rest of the day there, researching the frat regs to see if he was wrong or not.

Besides, it had the added bonus of having him out of Mac's line of sight/fire.

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	5. Chapter 5

AN: Harm and Mac's confrontation wasn't a part of this fic, I fully intended for Harm to successfully avoid Mac until he managed to go home. But because of popular demand I have decided to write a confrontation between them.

Please, bewarned, that we have a JealousMac in this and in the next part. This is Mac as she had presented herself to us in the ep "Trojan Horse" with her ugly words, personal insults, actions, way of thinking and behaviour. She's also jealous, because, for the life of me, I just simply can't imagine Mac reacting in any nice way to thinking Harm is involved with someone else, and her behaviour, actions and words on the show through all the years, but particularly in season 9, just confirm my theory that she wouldn't take it nicely.

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Several hours later Harm was exhausted, but ecstatic with his progress.

There is a small loophole in the fraternization regs. While forbidding sexual relationships and dating between an officer and an enlisted, marriage is allowed.

At the time the frat regs were written, women weren't part of the military. Frat regs were just another tool in the effort of preventing homosexual relationships among the ranks. Marriage between an officer and an enlisted was allowed, but the thing was that there were no women in the military and homosexual marriages were against the law and they were also considered a mortal sin. Which was a very effective system.

The regs have been updated a little since then, but not enough to plug this hole. After all, in this day and age, how many people still got married without dating first?

There were basically no more arranged marriages and the possibility of both parties of such an arrangement being in the military in these exact two roles was microscopic.

So, the thing was to get married without ever dating.

Quite a risky undertaking.

Many marriages fail even with the benefit of dating before getting married, but Harm was certain that, if they were to get married, they would succeed.

He would not let them fail.

Of course, after he first dealt with the storm coming his way.

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Harm cringed when he saw his former partner coming his way. He knew there was no escaping an inevitable confrontation as soon as she caught a whiff of him

He acted as if he hadn't noticed her and ducked among the bookshelves. Taking a quick sniff at himself to check if the scent was still there, and being disappointed that it was, 'How can something so nice smelling be so annoying?', he tried to make his escape.

Since he knew the Library like the back of his hand, it was not that hard.

'Hehe, just through here and I'm home free!' Harm thought happily as he burst out of the row of shelves near the back exit.

Only to come face to face with a pretty smug female Marine, who had waited for him, arms crossed over her chest and one foot tapping.

He skidded to a halt in front of her, barely managing to stop before he run right over her.

Her face was a mixture of amusement, triump and irritation, and he was mentally preparing himself for what was to come. At the look of defeat on his face Mac's amusement only grew.

"Gotcha!" Mac's, oh so obvious, glee over thwarting his plans was beginning to annoy Harm.

"Where do you think you're going? I wanted to talk to you ab..."

Mac suddenly cut herself off and her eyes grew wide. Harm knew that was it. He saw his life being played like a movie before his eyes.

She took a quick sniff at him.

'What is it with people these days that they have to sniff at other people? First Sturgis, now Mac. It's not only rude, but it also makes you feel as if you're a pile of crap and they're a dog.' thought Harm annoyed.

Mac narrowed her eyes and Harm could've sworn they'd turned green.

There was nowhere to run and there was nowhere to hide.

There was also no other choice but tu make a last stand. The thought of how successful Custer's last stand was breezed through Harm's mind and it did nothing to make him feel better.

With a barely controlled anger Mac spoke through clenched teeth. "Why haven't you told me you are involved with someone? Who is she!?"

Harm suddenly had the image of a jealous wife, interrogating him in order to confirm her suspicions. He could also easily imagine wrinklers in her hair and a dough roller in one hand.

The image of Mac looking like that had almost caused him to burst out laughing. Yet he managed to stop himself because Mac was not one to take something like that lightly. Her sense of humor was quite scarce lately and in her jealousy she would definitely just strike out if he laughed at her, without knowing or caring why he was laughing.

Jealousy is an ugly thing and Harm was glad he had managed to cure himself of it these past few years, since Mac's engagement to Brumby. He had gone through major self-improvement these past few months, since he had gotten custody of Mattie and been exposed to Jen's soothing, supportive and caring presence.

While Mattie was the one to help him invent himself as a family man and not be afraid to say to someone that he loved them; it was Jen, her friendship, presence, support and influence that had helped him improve himself as a person.

He had always been able to love someone unconditionally, without having to be with her, his relationship with Mac proved that; but because of Jen he was also capable of dealing with Mac's repeated rejections of him, his lunch and dinner offers, and his attempts at trying to re-establish even a shadow of the friendship that they had once had. Because of Jen he had ovecome jealousy and with time managed to move on from Mac.

Jen never knew what kind of void she filled in his heart and life. When they went somewhere with Mattie he could pretend, for at least a while, that his life was perfect and that they were really his family. In these fantasies, yearnings, Jen was his loving, supportive wife; while Mattie was their daughter. A few times he was so deep into this fantasy of his that he almost let it slip.

He did not know how Jen would react to him having such a fantasy about her, about him fantasizing of a marriage with her, but he didn't want to find out. She was much too important to him to ever lose her from his life.

But whenever he dreamed of having a life of love, happiness and family, Jen always starred the lead role next to him. It was starting to scare him, how much she had integrated herself into his life, how important she had become to him, how _essential. _She had more influence over who he had become than she would ever realize herself and he was thankful to her, because now he could honestly say that he liked _Harm _and not just _Commander Rabb._ He was a better person because of her now.

With Jen's unknowing help he had thus managed to improve himself and now, instead of being jealous at the thought or sight of Mac and Webb together, he felt only resignation, but no emotion that would've let it know that he was still hung up on her. He knew he was now ready to move on from Mac and find happiness with someone else. With a very specific someone.

Thus it was due to Jen that he was able to face Mac without the slightest shadow, over what could've been, in his heart.

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	6. Chapter 6

AN: First of all: I HATE writing confrontations. I try to avoid them like the plague, but, realistically looking, with the complexity of H&M's relationship it would've been completely unrealistic thinking that it is possible to close the H&M chapter without H&M having a confrontation over Harm moving on from Mac, especially when with another woman. I still hate them though, they always leave a dirty taste in my mouth and an unsettling feeling in my gut. I don't like to write H&M fighting and saying ugly words to each other, which is what confrontations are.

Sorry for such a late post, there are some unfortunate things called family gatherings. Wanted to spend a quiet day finishing up my fics, but was forced to go. Grrr.

I'm not happy with this part, not happy at all. This fic takes place after "Trojan Horse" (the investigation from which Harm returned in part 1 when he caught Jen in his T-shirt was that investigation) but before S9 finale. With what she said to Harm on USS Wake Island Mac had managed to sink to new lows and invent new lows of being insulting, while making herself look like a saint, like a perfect being, glorifying herself, without a flaw and incapable of doing anything bad or of making a mistake. The following conversation was influenced by Mac's hollier-than-thou attitude, with dellusions of saint(god)hood and thus the Mac from "Trojan Horse" is the Mac in this fic, and I doubt anyone's going to like her.

I don't like writing H&M confrontations, because they tend to get out of hand. Which is the reason why I believe a true and needed confrontation never happened on the show cause H&M would cut off all ties to each other after it, realizing that all the crap that had piled up over the years is too much for their friendship and any chance of a relationship, and DPB couldn't yank H&M fans along anymore.

This was not meant as bashing or making it up how Mac acts or how she views the world and Harm and how it concerns her. This is a "Trojan Horse" Mac, the way she was presented through her words, her actions and her mishandling, borderline abuse, of Harm, especially during the end scene of the ep. Add to that her jealousy and we don't get pretty results.

But after re-writing it a couple of times I've given up on it and am just posting it as it is. Hope you guys like it better than I do.

ElDani: sorry for deleting your review by deleting the chapter. I actually wanted to replace the chapter, but managed to unintentionally delete it, thus deleting your review. I'm truly sorry for that. As for Harm blowing up on Mac: this is a well-known psychological phenomena where frustration and rejection and hurt and anger keep piling up, with no venting and then someday it gets too much and the person blows. No real person would've taken Mac's behaviour and treatment of them without having had enough one day and decide that this friendship isn't worth it any longer. If Harm was a real person this scenario would've happened during the course of these years, but because DPB didn't want to lose audience he (again) ignored reality and real world/life laws. A real Harm would've decide that a prospect of possibly having a life with Mac sometime in the vague future wasn't worth standing how she was treating him and he would have had enough of her behaviour towards him and her treatment of him and would cut all ties. I know I would've if I were him. As for Mac not stringing him along in S9... IMHO saying 'never' and then accusing him of losing interest in her, which meant she wanted him to still be interested in her, proves that she strung him along. That or she was one extremely confused person, who doesn't have a clue what she want; or she has a split personality disorder, with one Mac being the bad one, doing damage to him and 'them' and not wanting him and pushing him away, while the other one wanting him and wanting him to want her. Either way, IMHO she still strung him along. Just like Harm said on the show: she was keeping her options open and didn't commit herself. It's a trait of Mac's... even on her own engagement party to another man she hit on Harm and tried to force him to admit his feelings for her... 

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Being able to act dumb with the best of them, Harm put an innocent expression on his face and asked, as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. "Involved with someone? What do you mean? And who's who?"

Harm could've sworn later that he'd heard Mac growl at his act. She was certainly gritting her teeth when she continued. "You smell like you've just rolled out of some woman's bed. And I want to know who she is."

He blinked at her with big, innocent eyes. "Why?" Was his 'clueless' question.

"What do you mean, 'why'?"

"I mean why would you want to know if I'm involved with someone. And why would it concern you? Aren't you with someone? How's Webb, btw.?"

His reminder wasn't subtle, nor was it meant to be. But Mac didn't react to the reminder that she wasn't in the right to demand explanations due to her involvement with another man. She fully believed she was the only one to have the right to a claim on him. The woman, who had been pushing him away for years and had told him 'never', had accused him of losing interest in her just a short time ago on USS Wake Island. Not only that, but she had deliberately insulted him by claiming he 'went through women' while she 'fell in and out of love'. She made him look like he was some kind of womanizing jerk while she was a complete innocent and a victim in every relationship, and not who she was, a woman who demanded enormous sacrifices from men, as an entry fee for a relationship with her in the form of the man giving up his career, his country or something equally big; while never being willing to give up something herself, always demanding and expecting to be given something, but never giving anything herself. While Harm had never liked Brumby, he had to acknowledge that the man wasn't the only one who was the bad person in that relationship.

This woman, the woman who had intentionally strung two men along during each of her recent affairs (Harm and her current significant other) by never commiting and always leaving her options open, like she had proven on Wake Island, was acting jealous because she believed he had moved on with someone else. She believed she had the right to play with other men, jump in beds with them on the first night like in Sydney, yet in her opinion Harm should be single for years on end, waiting for her until she was finally tired of playing around, waiting for the slim chance that she'd finally decide to settle down with him at a point in time in the unknown future.

Harm had had it and when he saw her gathering air for another tirade he cut her off.

"I've had it, Mac, and now I'm putting down some laws that you WILL abide to if we are to continue working together. I don't appreciate you meddling into my life and dictating me whom I should and shouldn't be involved with. I'm not your faithful, little lapdog, waiting for some vague time in the future when you'd decide to stop playing around and perhaps decide to finally want to be with me. I am neither your property, neither do you have any sort of claim on me, not anymore. You yourself destroyed any chance of us being together by saying 'never' and then going to another man last year. For your information, I don't 'go through women' as you have so insultingly put it, nor do you 'fall in love and out of love', you are not some kind of victim of your own deep emotions. And if you do 'fall in and out of love' so easily then it reflects extremely badly on your character and constancy, making you out to be a hormonal teenager, who goes from one crush to another, never being able to decide which man is hotter and whom she'd want to have sex with first. If you don't know me by now I will explain it to you in simple words: I have NEVER been a womanizer, nor saw women as conquests. I have cared for every single woman I have ever been involved with and they knew it. If I hear you say anything like that again, or hear you said something like that about me to someone else, I will bring charges against you for insulting a fellow officer and deliberately damaging my name and reputation. So, drop your irritating, jealous, hollier-than-thou attitude before I am forced to have a restraining order brought up against you. As you said to me when you were involved with Brumby, my personal life is off-limits to you. Got that? Just to make it clear: we are nothing but co-workers anymore from now on, you have no right, no say and no role in my personal life from now on; because you yourself chose this by unilateraly deciding that there will never be an 'us', by pushing me away every time I tried to regain our former friendship and by your jealous, irrational attitude. This behaviour that you've just demonstrated just sealed the deal. I was forced to move on, forced by you, and I did move on. Now finally grow up and do the same. See you around, Lieutenant Colonel."

He turned on his heels and marched away angrily, leaving Mac standing there open-mouthed. She knew she shouldn't have acted the way she had, but she was never able to control herself around Harm and somehow only barbs and insults came out of her mouth when talking to him lately. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but knew she couldn't blame it all on PTSD because she had been occasionally behaving that way ever since he went back to flying. Was it possible that she still resented and hated him for that, holding it against him in her mind? Why did she always blame him for her own mistakes, for her own actions? Why did she, every time she managed to do something to screw up another relationship, always blame Harm for it? Was she really completely incapable of taking any responsibility for her own actions? He was right, she'd been treating him badly for quite a while now and she didn't know why. Perhaps she should've taken her sessions with Dr McCool seriously and not just view them as some obligation to get over with in order to get back on-duty. She grimaced, she knew that she had brought the Admiral's order on herself with her behaviour and it was her own fault that his order, having been recorded in her personnel record, had effectively destroyed any chance for a promotion and career longer than 20 years. It was a wonder that she was still in the Marines with all the convictions and black marks, a number of black marks and of those each mark by itself would've destroyed anyone else's career immediately. How come she was still in the Marines with all that she had no clue. She had to acknowledge the fact that it didn't look like she'd stop acting like she'd been anytime soon unless she found professional help to try to help her sort out her own issues. It took alienating the man that had always been there for her through everything, always the first one willing to help, her rock whenever she let him be one; to realize what should've been obvious to her a long time ago. Somewhere along the way she had gotten terribly off course and she didn't recognize nor like the person she had become during that wrong journey.

Suddenly she saw Harm stop and say something to her over his shoulder. "Just for your information, Mac, one of my T-shirts suddenly ended up in Mattie and Jen's laundry and spread the scent of their detergent over my entire closet. It is the scent of Mattie's detergent you were smelling. Nothing else." Which was the complete truth, he just let out the part who washed it, as it wasn't important. Then he continued on his way.

The full import of the consequences of her actions had suddenly hit her. Not only had she caused an irrepairable rift between Harm and her, but it was also because she had made a mistake and over-reacted once again, blinded and irrational by jealousy. And this mistake had cost her the best friend and the best friendship she had ever had.

Mac wiped the tear, that escaped upon this realization, off her cheek and squared her shoulders. She was determined to go back to see Dr. McCool and really work on her issues, to make sure she'd never do something like that ever again, that she would be able to control herself and think through things rationally, not just run on her emotions and act before thinking, like she'd been doing for the past 5 years. And perhaps, just perhaps, she would be worthy of Harm's friendship some day again.

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	7. Chapter 7

AN: THIS FIC IS NOT AN ATTEMPT AT TRYING TO MAKE HARM LOOK LIKE A EVIL JERK.

**pryrmtns**: why would Harm be the evil jerk? Because he was finally fed up with how Mac's been treating him since he returned from flying? How she kept putting every other man before him? How she kept pushing him away and then accusing him of losing interest in her, and then claiming to other people she loves him? How she kept treating him like shit and hurting him? How she kept shooting down his every single attempt at trying to regain their friendship? How she kept running to men that showed interest, but shut the door in the face of the only man that saw something of value in her? Of treating him like her lapdog and safe bet, for when she was finally ready to stop playing around? Of finally being fed up with it all and telling her what she had coming for almost 5 years?

If you see this fic as a evil-jerk-Harm fic, then either I completely failed to get my message across or we are on two completely different frequencies. I'm a Harm fan and won't write a fic that bashes him. I will also not write him as Mac's little lapdog (which is how he was presented on the show and in a LOT of fics, Mac-fan fics of course), but will do everything possible for him to have a life of happiness and love. And that's just not possible for him to have with Mac. She's too focused on having the dominate role in their relationship (why didn't she try to have the dominate role, instead of completely submitting herself like she was spineless, with Chris, Lowne, Webb and especially with Bugme, the emotional manipulator/abuser?) to ever try to have a healthy, adult relationship with him, where she'd view him as an equal and not someone to conquer and submit.

Please, tell me what gave you the idea that I tried to write Harm as an evil jerk, instead of a guy that's fed up with years of mistreatment by his former partner and just wants to be free of her and find happiness with the woman he loves, so I can go back and correct those lines. I don't want this fic to put the message, as you understood it, across.

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**ElDani**: we've seen Mac very jealous over every one of Harm's girlfriends and even over women with whom Harm was never involved, just because they were close to him. Couple that with the fact that she's been mistreating him, had told him 'never' and then _accused _him of losing interest in her, which is what every normal person would want by saying never to another person, and we have a man who finally has enough of it all and of her.

Years of her mistreating him, of her jealousy, behaviour, attitude, pushing him away,... kept piling up and this latest bout of her jealousy was the thing that broke the camel's back. In real life it would've happened some time during the last few years, yet it had not because DPB didn't want to lose the fans, thus making their relationship and Harm's patience unrealistic, IMHO. I firmly believe that it is better to throw away 8 years of, mainly unhealthy, friendship, that only hurts both parties, than to have it continue on the way it's been and ultimately destroy the two people involved. No friendship is worthy of the destruction of two people. I tried to explain it better in the AN for the revised and reposted chapter 6.

So, to make it short, this is the straw that broke the camel's back and Harm's patience has finally run out.

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Whew, glad that the confrontation is over!

One of my least favorite parts, of this fic and of writing.

I'm posting this new chapter sooner than others because I wanted to immediately answer some of the reviews and it seems that the entire messaging and alert system of the site (even after 5 or 6 days) is still off-line. It is important to me to answer them as soon as possible.

And now we can finally go on with Harm/Jen and their story.

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He spent the next day, after he licked his wounds from his confrontation with Mac and mourned the death of a friendship, even though it was mainly quite unhealthy and damaging to both parties, trying to figure out how to go about proposing to Jen. He also had to make sure of Jen's feelings for him.

If he proposed to her without being 100 certain that she was in love with him and it turned out he was wrong, the fallout would be disastrous.

He was reasonably sure Jen wouldn't have suffered a heart attack, because she was too young and in too good a health for it, but if she were to reject him, it would make matters very uncomfortable and he was sure they would not be able to work together anymore.

The least he would have to do is to ask for a transfer, which would put his custody of Mattie in danger.

The worst case scenario was that he would have to resign or would even have to go through a Courts-Martial, which would effectively end his career and end his custody of Mattie.

No, he would have to go about it more subtly.

After all, all that special ops training that he went through over the years and his requalifications every few months had to be good for something, right?

No-one but the Admiral knew that Harm was also an active member of SEAL Team 8, based in Little Creek, VA and many of his missions were cleverly disguised as investigations abroad. He wore his Trident, along with the medals he received for these missions, on his undershirt beneath his uniform. Harm had become a SEAL during the Admiral's first year as the JAG when several commanding officers of different SEAL teams had noticed his skills and talent and submitted an official request to Cheggwidden for Harm to be made an official SEAL and to be available for missions. Not even Mac knew about this side of him. It never occured to her how come no SEAL during their investigations (except for Rivers, but he only at first) ever stonewalled him. And how he was able to give a lot more beating than receive in a fist fight with a professional, champion boxer. It was his guilty pleasure. He wouldn't want to reveal to Mac that he enjoyed being a grunt and a SEAL, as much as he enjoyed being a pilot. She would just take too much pleasure in teasing him, after, of course, being mad at him for not telling her, not speaking to him friendly for several weeks, ending with several weeks more of speaking to him only civilly.

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So, he started dropping little hints and baits without Jen noticing what he was really doing. Small hints of his feelings to see how she would react to them and baits to find out her own feelings for him. He also started to touch her casually while off-duty. Touches like on the arm while talking to her, her shoulder when he walked by her in the dining room to get another dish when he, Jen and Mattie had dinner together, a hand on the small of her back to guide her through a door - all the while prepared to call it all off at any sign that it was not what Jen wanted. He also acted a little possessive, even though it was against his nature, when they were out somewhere and other men showed an interest in her.

This went on for the next several weeks and by the time he was ready to end this part of the operation due to a sufficient amount of data, Jen had passed with flying colors.

He was now 100 sure (or at least 99,98, but who's countin'?) that Jen would not freak out and would respond favorably to his proposal, especially once he had explained the plan to her.

Mattie was starting to suspect something, looking at them suspiciously whenever Harm conducted one of his little 'tests'. After having had enough one day she had cornered him and demanded explanations. He knew she liked Jen, but he wasn't prepared for Mattie's question whether Jen would allow her to call her 'Mom'. It was unexpected, but meant a lot, for it showed she fully supported him and wanted this for him and them all, and he couldn't help but be touched when she told him that she hoped Jen would say 'yes'.

The only thing left to do was to talk to the Admiral to clear the plan with him and to warn the Admiral of what he was about to do.

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	8. Chapter 8

**AN**: sigh, RL just likes to mess around. Posting late cause I've spent the morning trying to complete one of my other fics (that is now waaaay longer than planned) and the afternoon in classes. So, this one is longer than usually to make up for not posting in the morning.

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**pryrmtns: **my bad too. Was afraid that we have a fanatical Mac-can-do-no-wrong-Harm-is-an-evil-jerk fan among us and that I somehow managed to come off as one and wrote Harm as a jerk. I can fully understand the thing about typing faster than thinking... something like that happened to me when I accidentally deleted part 6 instead of replacing it with an updated version.

I am happy that we are actually on the same frequency for this one, there are too many fics with the evil jerk Harm around, which is one of the reasons I even started to write fanfiction, to add another writer and works to the opposite camp.

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**ElDani: **Thank you for pointing that thing out, because I know why I write what I write (sometimes, not always, even the exact way the sentence is formed has an exact and important meaning in my fics), but I sometimes forget to clue the reader in. So, thank you for pointing out my mistake so I will remember in the future (I hope).

As for Harm being a SEAL... We've seen Harm operate as a fully integrated part of Special Ops teams many times on the show, many of them during Season 1 (probably the best season of all, IMHO, if you take away Maria and Diane of course). As I saw it he really enjoyed himself those times and I think Harm would do well as a SEAL. I mean, he proved himself when Cheggwidden ordered him to join a SEAL team on a real mission (even though Harm had no required training at the time, or at least we didn't know of it, he did after the mission ended though...) and he executed the HALO jump and the rest of his mission as a normal, fully competent team member. In "Scimitar" it was actually said that he was training with SEALs, in close quarters combat tactics (I think they mentioned what kind of training he was participating in)... Later missions and investigations just additionally proved his competency in that art of combat.

As for the other story... very good idea. I can see the author's reasoning. Had he ever pursued a woman on the show and not been pursued (if we don't count Mac and perhaps Annie, where he had to do the pursuing)?

Very good plot idea. Do you or anyone else have some suggestions how Harm could pursue a woman (but without it being sexual harrassment)?

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**sohard2c, michelle UK: **well, Cheggwidden's reaction in this part may seem lame, those were great ideas you two had, but as this fic is already written, I couldn't incorporate them. As for his lame reaction: after everything the entire staff had done over the years (giving birth in his office while he had to play midwife, for example) there's nothing that can shake him or give him a stroke. At least, that's my reasoning.

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**Lynnp:** thank you for the review and for your constant support through these years.

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A little self-promotion, since the author alert is down: check out my fic "What's In A Name" on my personal profile page. I hope you like it.

Now, in the immortal words of the immortal Freddie: The show must go on.

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Cheggwidden blinked. Stared. And blinked again.

This was the most proposterous thing he had ever heard from his usually-level-headed Commander.

Perhaps he was hearing things and Rabb didn't really say what Cheggwidden thought he had said?

"Would you run that by me again, please? Did I hear you correctly? You want to marry Petty Officer Coates even though, supposedly, you two are not in a romantic relationship and never were?"

Thankfully Cheggwidden's voice was lowering throughout his speech instead of raising. Still, Harm was worriedly glancing towards the door, hoping that Jen hadn't heard what was being discussed right then. She was like 'Radar' O'Reilly sometimes and this was not the time he wanted her to be like that. He turned back to his superior when he noticed that the Admiral had stopped talking.

"Yes, sir, you heard correctly."

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!!??"

Harm jumped at the shout, certain that the entire office had heard the question. His suspicion was confirmed only a few seconds later when he heard Jen's voice through the door as she sent everyone back to work. She knew better than to interrupt the Admiral when he was yelling at someone. It was just Harm's luck (or lack of it) that the target of the Admiral's ire was himself, but he knew that he should stand strong and not cave in. There was just too much at stake. He squared his shoulders, looked his superior directly in the eyes and plowed forth.

"No, sir. I am completely serious."

The Admiral growled, leaned back in his chair, pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the approaching headache and growled again.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just call in the Master at Arms, throw you in the brig and bring charges against you."

"Well, sir, because I havent't done anything. As I've said, the Petty Officer and I are not, nor were we ever, in a romantic nor in a sexual relationship."

"As you've already said but I find it hard to believe that you would then want to marry someone with whom you have never been involved."

"But it's the truth, Admiral. You yourself have never seen anything that would indicate any kind of involvement between Coates and I, since you would've talked to us if you had. And I know it seems strange to literally jump head-first into a marriage, but I am absolutely certain that we could make it work. I've been thinking this over for weeks and have done extensive research into the UCMJ-legality of it all."

Cheggwidden looked at his best officer thoughtfully. "Is she in on this plan also?"

Harm straightened and said in a flat tone. "No, sir. She doesn't even know what we're talking about. She also doesn't know about my intentions. I want all of this to be above board and without her knowing, as she can't be charged with anything if this goes wrong. Also, it eliminates any possibility of anyone making a case of prior involvement."

The Admiral looked at him seriously. "So, you came here fully prepared to deal with any sort of negative reaction from me, including charges being brought against you?"

"Yes, sir. And sir, if I get your permission and she says 'no', I'll be transferring."

Cheggwidden let out a deep sigh, only now realizing what this meant to the younger man. "You do realize that by doing that you are practically throwing away your chance for promotion and serving past your 20? Your record is spotless and the awards, medals and commendations speak for themselves, you have the best possible chance of making Captain. You risk losing it all. Is she worth it?"

Harm looked at him without flinching "I know, sir, and yes, she is worth it."

Cheggwidden cupped his face in his hands, thinking of something else. "What about LtCol Mackenzie? I don't want this to create even more tension in this office than there already is."

Harm's face didn't show any regret not even for a second "Last year she had made the choice and the decision for both of us, without even asking for my opinion. Then she hooked up with Webb." at the mention of the spook both the mens' lips curled in distaste, Cheggwidden remembering fondly of the one time he had broken the spook's nose. That occasion had made the whole mess brighter. "I was forced to admit to myself that there is nothing left for me there. I was forced to move on and I did move on. Still, I tried to at least recover a part of our former friendship, but the Colonel didn't want that and resisted my every attempt. She continued to make sure I never forgot who she is involved with. After my talk with her a few days ago, in which she revealed her true feelings and thoughts about me, I broke it all off completely between us. There is nothing left there but a purely professional relationship."

Noticing the look in his superior's eye, and recognizing it, he hurried to assuage the Admiral's fears "And sir, the Petty Officer is definitely not a rebound for me. I would never take advantage of her, nor hurt her. She means too much to me to ever hurt or use her. She is definitely the one I can imagine sharing the rest of my life with and having a family with. I am over Mac and last year I had to admit that I was over her already. Unrequited love can only live so long."

The Admiral knew he had to play the devil's advocate one last time and make sure that the Commander had really thought everything through. "And what if the Colonel leaves Webb and decides she truly loves and wants _you_, not him?"

Harm let out a breath, knowing this question had to come up eventually. "Then she will be disappointed. I will NOT hurt Jen under any circumstances, sir. Even if the Colonel were to decide today that she wanted me and would be willing to do anything to be with me, I would not be receptive to it. Not only can't I trust her with my heart ever again, but it took me her decision in Paraguay to realize that we would never work. Unlike the Colonel, I do not view relationships as a power struggle between two competitors, but as an equal partnership between two equal partners."

Cheggwidden raised his eyebrows at hearing that, but another thought occured to him. He decided to talk to Harm as a friend and not as his CO. "Harm, you and Jen are an officer and an enlisted. During the day you are her superior and have to give her orders. Are you sure you could turn that part off when you go off duty and she is your wife, not your subordinate? Could you treat her as an equal partner, without falling back into the officer/enlisted role?"

These were all valid questions, but Harm thought it best not to tell his CO that for the last few months he and Jen were treating each other as equal friends off-duty, at Harm's insistence. If the Admiral found out, he could cause problems if he were inclined to. "Yes, sir, I am 110 sure I would have no problem with it."

The Admiral was quiet for a few minutes, pondering his decision. Finally he looked at Harm, sighed, scratched behind his ear and sighed again. "Okay, Commander, you can proceed with your plan. BUT you will both have to behave according to protocol while on-duty. Don't make me send chaperons with you into the break room. You also will not bring any potential domestic fights into this office. ALSO there will be an informal investigation into any possible pre-existing relationship between you two, to make sure everything is above board. But I trust you and I believe it will be just a formality, nothing to be worried about."

Harm couldn't contain his happiness at the Admiral's approval of his plan. He had the feeling that this would be the beginning of the rest of his life. "Thank you so much, Admiral. I promise not to make you regret allowing me to do this."

The Admiral had to smile at Harm's happiness and gratefulness. "Just invite me to the wedding and name your firstborn after me and we're even."

Harm was just about to say 'yes' when the Admiral's second request hit in. Naming their child after their CO? That didn't sit right with him. First of all he believed that choosing the name for their child should be a decision made by both parents, not a promise to someone. He also still remembered how Bud and Harriet had decided to do it, only to find out what the initials stand for. Plus, he considered naming one's child after the CO to be the ultimate sucking up and Harm was definitely not wired that way. But how to say 'no' to the Admiral now?

Cheggwidden had to laugh at the look of fear and indecision on his subordinate's face. It was priceless! But he knew tormenting him too long wasn't fair "It's okay, Commander, I was just kidding. I wouldn't want another kid being inflicted with my name, nor do I want to make Coates mad at both of us. She has enough power in this office to make me seriously regret it. Sometimes I swear she has too much power. Good luck! Dismissed."

Harm visibly sagged as relief flooded through him at the Admiral's words and happiness again filled his face. He actually strutted past Jen's desk, puffing out his chest, and she coulnd't help but wonder what had made him so happy.

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AN: some of you will probably question the spotless-record comment, so I'll explain. The few times that Harm did something foolish, it was usually settled with a reprimand in his short-term record or non-judicial punishment that went without an official reprimand. We know Harm had to pay for the repair of the roof he shot up (it was just ONCE and 10 years ago, why do people keep bringing it up, as if Mac hadn't done anything more stupid, like sleeping with other men while she was married - at least 2 times that we know of - or shooting her husband or lying while under oath,...). The ONE plane he dumped in the ocean was because of a TECHNICAL error of the plane and the review board declared that it wasn't pilot error, the plane's systems went off-line because of the storm not because of somethng Harm did. As for the brig break... was Harm even in a brig or in a civilian jail since the shooting took place on civilian ground with a civilian victim and civilian police made the arrests? But first, Harm was FRAMED for that murder, Mac proved it in court, the authorities who held Harm in custody were no doubt embarrassed over their own screw up so they wouldn't be pushing for a reprimand against Harm for escaping. As I remember nothing was ever said about him being punished for it.

If anyone would like to mention an occasion when Harm bent the rules or broken them, I would like to remember them that it happened during a case and it was done for the sole purpose of finding out the truth. And because he did what he did he always brought back positive results, I doubt Cheggwidden would see a need to reprimand him still. Almost every CO will be willing to ignore it if it brought back positive results, as it always did in Harm's case. Nothing was ever said on the show about Harm being reprimanded for that, at least as far as I remember.

At worst Harm had reprimands placed into his short-time record, none into permanent record, meaning they are there only for a short while. These are small fish and are forgotten from the official memory as soon as they are taken out of his record. It's not as if he has adultery, fraternization, perjury, Admiral's Mast, an Admiral's order to see a shrink,... which is what Mac has and is all in permanent record. Every single one of these things by itself would've destroyed a career in RL and in most cases even has people being sentenced to jail time and we have seen Mac's career not only survive, but thrive after each time. After the first two she got sent to Law School, after the second two she got promoted ahead of time,...And Harm goes flying and is stalled in promotion for months. I ask. where is the justice and fairness in this?  



	9. Chapter 9

**AN**: thank god, the author/story alerts, messaging and everything else important is back online. Whew. **  
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**moat58, michelle UK: **thank you for the reviews and the kind words. I agree completely with you that Harm had never overstepped the mark. Nothing he had ever done is either in his permanent record or could prevent him from being promoted. Best proof is canon where he actually was promoted in Dream Team.

**Lynnp: **thanks Lynn!

**pryrmtns: **please read my explanation at the end of the revised Part 8.

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On the other side of the door the Admiral was thinking about what had just happened.

Harm was breaking one of the biggest taboos in the military, getting involved with an enlisted. He had to admit it, the man had titanium plated steel ones and was certainly clever. Finding a way to be together with Jen and avoiding a Courts Martial. Not bad. He had the feeling that Jen and Harm would be the role model for a successful marriage. He had witnessed the interaction between the two in the office, the way they worked together as a team, being comfortable in each other's presence, but meanwhile it being obvious that they weren't involved. To anyone else, this pairing would not be understandable, they would probably immediately pair Harm with Mac, but not Cheggwidden.

Mac was the Chief of Staff, a position she took over from Harm when the man left for flying, and thus Harm's direct superior officer, making any potential relationship between the two of them more against the regs and taboo than a relationship between Harm and Jen could ever be, because Mac was Harm's direct supervisor and wrote his fitness reports. On the other hand, Harm and Jen were not in a direct chain of command, as Jen's direct CO was the same as Harm's. The only thing preventing dating were the frat regs that prevented any potential officer/enlisted couple from becoming involved. If, at any time during the past, Harm and Mac had gotten involved, one or both of them would had to be transferred out or Mac would have had to give up her position as Chief of Staff. Cheggwidden feared that losing her position because of their relationship would've made Mac resentful and would've hurt the relationship in the long run, as she was a very ambitious woman and the Admiral had the feeling that, if being forced to choose, her career would mean to her more than Harm or any romantic relationship she would be having with him. Thus she would resent Harm if her career would take a hit because of being involved with him (proof: ep "What if") and that resentment and inevitable hate would slowly, but surely, destroy their relationship, friendship and them. When looking at it this way, it was better that they had never gotten involved.

The fact that Harm would be getting married to an enlisted was not such a complete surprise to the aging Admiral however. Junior officers and enlisted respected and positively adored Harm. Unlike many other officers, he treated them with respect, like equals, just of a lower military rank yet as equal human beings, and he never pulled rank on them, unless he was forced to. He was also always understanding, supportive and always ready to help with advice or action.

He was also aware that Harm and Jen were much more suited for each other than Harm and Mac were, because they were so alike, unlike Harm and Mac who were as different as day and night. Opposites do attract, but they don't make for lasting and successful relationships. Once the novelty of a new relationship and that first crush wear off, it's the differences that are the ones that eventually push the two apart. It might be nice at first to be involved with someone who is different, but with time those differences would just start to grate on one's nerves and annoy them. While, on the other hand, it's the people that are so alike that have the best chance of working out in the long run, because it's the similarities and the identicalities that bond them together. And Harm and Jen were like one person in two bodies. All of this knowledge had come from the Admiral's skills at observing and reading people. He wasn't a SEAL and the Admiral for nothing!

Both Harm and Jen were vegetarians (he figured that out after he started paying attention to what was stored in the break room's refrigerator when he started raiding his subordinates' food supplies), they both loved flying (the bounce in Jen's step after stepping off a transport or a helicopter gave her away), they loved the same music (he found them humming blues songs separately on different occasions) and on those times he had assigned Jen as Harm's legalman their results were always excellent. There was only one difference the Admiral could think of. Seriously, how many men would voluntarily, much less like to, watch chick flicks? Other than the chick flicks, he was sure they would like the same kind of movies, had Harm ever given a damn about the TV and movies.

'Yep' he thought 'things are going to work out just fine.'

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Harm returned humming back to his office.

He knew he was drawing some curious looks, but he couldn't help himself. His plan was coming together great. 'I love it when a plan comes together.'

Now all he had to do was propose to Jen.

Easier said than done.

How would he go about it?

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	10. Chapter 10

AN: this one is pretty short because the next one is a lot longer.

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After a long deliberation he had finally found the best way. At least he hoped it was the best way.

He waited until they were both home from work and she had had sufficient time to change out of her uniform and relax a little. He gathered his courage and went to knock on her door.

After a few seconds the door opened and his dream girl stood there, looking questioningly at him. She moved away from the door and opened it wider. "Come in, Harm."

Harm stepped into the apartment and shuffled nervously.

Jen waited for him to say something, but when it came it was not what she'd expected.

"Do you have any plans for Saturday, Jen?"

Perplexed, Jen shook her head. "No, why?"

Harm looked her square in the eyes. "How do you feel about going flying and having a picnic with me? Mattie is staying over at a friend's house and I thought we could have a nice day together, just the two of us."

"Okay." said Jen cautiously. 'He took me flying plenty of times before. Why does this time feel different?'

Harm's face broke out into a grin, making Jen's lips twitch in reaction. It was as if her body was connected to his by an invisible and strong bond, making them share in the other's happiness or sorrow. If one was sad, the other was too. If one was happy, the other couldn't help but be happy. It was, at the same time, nice and not so nice. Having that kind of a bond with someone can be great, but only if you can and are close to them, otherwise it's sweet torture.

Harm put his hand on her forearm and patted it. "See you tomorrow at work."

He then winked at her and left, leaving behind a perplexed Jen.

'He winked at me! Why did he do that? What does it mean? I have a feeling I'll find out on Saturday, I just have to find the patience to wait until then and not grab him and drag him into a storage closet at work, demanding answers.'

Jen sighed and went back to what she was doing before Harm had come.

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	11. Chapter 11

Finally Saturday morning dawned.

Jen had been awake since 0400, twitching with excitement, and as the clock neared 0700 the butterflies in her stomach became even more energetic. It was as if they were on Speed or Ecstasy.

Ever since Harm had extended the invitation of flying Jen's mind had been flying at supersonic speed, wondering what was different this time. The way he had smiled at her, as if he had some big secret, had woken up her curious nature. It was almost the same kind of smile he had when he asked her if she knew wearing a man's shirt is the sign of belonging to that man when he had found her dressed in his shirt, after coming home from an investigation all those weeks ago.

'My god, the shirt. I have completely forgotten about it. It's strange that he never commented on it again, even after his whole wardrobe smelled of Mattie's and mine detergent. Does this have something to do with it? I almost died of embarrassment when he caught me and from what he'd said. Well, I certainly made him speechless soon enough.'

She didn't know whether to be hopeful or scared, the constant awareness of their, because of the frat regs, impossible situation souring all those times she felt they could have something more.

At 0700 sharp there was a knock at the door.

Jen checked herself in the mirror for the last time before opening the door. Quickly smoothing her clothes and her hair, trying to look her best for something important she had a feeling was about to happen, but having no idea what it was. It seemed that her whole body, except for her brain, knew what was about to happen and was preparing for it.

She opened the door and lost her ability to breathe.

While she had often seen him in his off-duty clothes these past few months, Harm still managed to make her catch her breath.

'My god, I could just eat him up. It should be illegal for any man, especially him, to look that good.'

Jeans, a white T-shirt and his leather bomber jacket, the package completed with his shades.

She noticed Harm looking her up and down, obviously liking what he saw. Jen was surprised at that since Harm had always made sure she was looking elsewhere when he checked her out. She knew he was looking at her because she felt his stare burning into her those times. It confirmed her suspicion that something was wrong, he was being very blatant with the fact that he liked how she looked like.

Tight stretchy jeans, a tight T-shirt and a thick jacket, that she still held in her hand, were her choice. She let her hair down, literally and figuratively.

"You're ready, good. What do you say we head out?"

"Let's do it."

Harm took the jacket from her hand and helped her into it, pulling her hair out of the collar. When she turned around and looked up at him it was all he could do not to grab her and kiss her until they both forgot their own names. The trust, friendship and deep caring shone brightly in those beautiful deep brown orbs.

Jen was captivated by his gaze and felt the insane urge to grab him, slam him against her apartment door and have her way with him right there in the hallway, throwing the regs out the window. But, ignoring the fact that they would be breaking the regs, that wasn't _them._ They were best friends, meant a lot to each other and she knew that if anything ever happened between them in the future, if the regs somehow got sorted out, they would never cheapen and belittle what they had with just an affair. Nor would they start a relationship off with sex. What they had was something much more, more precious and bigger than just a physical attraction.

Deep, abiding friendship, complete loyalty and devotion, 'parenthood' of a teenage girl and something hidden under all those things, bonded them together and they would never throw it away for something as meaningless as casual sex or a one night stand.

For Jen knew, were she ever allowed to get her hands on one delectable Harmon Rabb Jr., she would grab him tight and never, ever, let go.

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Jen locked the door and headed towards the stars, avoiding the unreliable elevator.

Harm opened the stairwell door for her and followed her down.

The drive over to Leesburg was filled with lively chatter as they discussed the newest office gossip, happenings in the Navy, new cases, Mattie and the Admiral's increasingly strange and off-kilter behaviour.

They were quite surprised at how soon they finally arrived at the airport and various things to do occupied their time until the take off.

Harm greeted the owner of the hangar and with his help pushed Sarah, his plane, to the runway.

He conducted the walk-around and repeated it again 2 times, triple-checking every possible weakness.

Jen stood by his side, watching with interest and observing with pleasure. They were off-duty and checking out this good-looking man was not forbidden. As long as he, or anyone else, never found out.

When all was done with, Harm reached into the front cockpit, pulling out a leather helmet with an in-built radio and a set of goggles.

He gave them to Jen "Here. Put these on and I'll be right back."

'Where is he going _now_?' Jen wondered, watching Harm who was walking quickly towards his SUV.

He came back with a large, covered plastic box.

"What's in there?" she asked curiously.

Harm grinned "All in due time." and put the box in the storage compartment.

Then he helped her into her seat, buckled her up and got in himself.

"Contact!" was heard across the runway and a second later the engine roared to life. Soon the small, yellow plane was climbing towards the skies.

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	12. Chapter 12

AN: wow, 44 reviews by the last count, a record for my fics. Thanks guys! The previous record holder was "I'll stand by you" with 40 reviews. Does that mean you like Harm/Jen fics more than Harm/Singer? Just asking out of curiosity, won't influence my choice in writing. I write what I get inspiration for.

Sorry for the late posting, but I was finishing another fic, called "Observations of a seaman" that should be ready for posting soon. Because it's been sitting on my drive unfinished for weeks it had priority. Had I not gotten to finishing it, it would've waited for another few weeks.

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Contrary to their previous flights, this one was not a wild one. No loops, no rolls or anything like that. Just a nice scenic flight of the mountains, during which he let her take the stick.

2 hours later he was landing the plane in a beautiful field, full of spring flowers.

They climbed out of the plane with Harm carrying the box. She was really curious by now.

"So, where are we?" she was looking around, enjoying the view, trying not to think about the mysterious box.

"It's a place I'd discovered years ago, right after I fixed up the plane and moved it to Leesburg. It was actually on the second flight, right before I was to enter the Law School, that I'd found it. Have been here only rarely these past few years, only when I had a lot to think about."

Jen knew him quite well and could read between the lines easily. He had actually said that he always came here alone. It was his special place, a place where he felt safe and happy and he had never shared it with anyone. Until now.

Jen's heart fluttered for a second, then began a happy song. It meant everything to her that he wanted to share it with her and only her.

Harm noticed her silence and looked over, unsure how his message had been received, worried that she would be angry. What he saw lifted his concern immediately. If that bright, slightly teary, but definitely happy, smile was anything to go by, then he had made the right choice.

He lead the way to a small creek, it's banks filled with flowers of every type and color, making Jen's eyes widen at the beauty.

"It's beautiful!" she enthused and looked around, enjoying the view.

A small, whispering creek, a colorful field of flowers with Sarah in the middle and the tall mountains in the backgrounds, their peaks still covered with ice and snow, completed the breathtaking scenery.

She truly regretted not having a camera with her.

She turned back to Harm only to see him stretching out the blanket that he'd brought with him, obviously in the box.

The surprises didn't end there.

When he'd finally finished unloading everything they had, a real feast was laid out before them.

A vegetarian lasagna, salad, dessert, hot tea,... a grinning Harm, quite pleased with himself.

"Let's dig in."

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After they had finished eating and cleared everything away, they were just laying on the blanket, enjoying the warm spring sun and each other's quiet company.

After a while Jen couldn't keep it in anymore. "So, why all this?" she gestured into the air. "I mean, not that I don't appreciate it, I definitely do, it was amazing, but why?"

She propped herself up on one elbow and stared at him.

Harm sighed and knew that the time for the truth had come. He sat up and was quiet for a while.

Just when she thought he wasn't about to answer he started. "I actually thought long and hard before deciding on this. I thought this is more 'us' than any dinner in some restaurant. Not that you're not worthy of a highest-class restaurant, you definitely are, but it didn't feel _right._ Not only has it been done billions of times before, but I also wanted to put some effort into it. Combine that with something we both love, flying, and the fact that we're here alone, no annoying waiters or other people, just us, the sun and this beautiful surroundings,..."

Jen just listened to his ramblings, completely confused over what he was trying to say. Whatever it was, it was obviously very important and touchy for Harm, the calmest person she had ever known, with nerves of steel and ice water instead of blood, to become a nervous wreck.

Trying to calm him down a little, she put her hand on his and said with a soft voice. "Harm, whatever it is you want to say, say it."

Harm took a long breath and visibly relaxed.

"You know there's always been 'something' there between us, right?" at her puzzled nod he continued. "Ever since we've met. But I was still too hung up on Mac back then and we've only just met, so the time obviously wasn't right. Both of us also had too many issues, not to mention the regs. I couldn't even let you stay with me overnight because of them and had to ask Mac to take you in. But during the last few months we've become much closer. Taking care of Mattie, together, spending almost all of our off-duty time either together with Mattie or by ourselves, brought us a lot closer and we've forged a strong friendship. And I think it's time we move forward."

"Forward?" Jen was clearly afraid. "What do you mean by that? You want me to move out? Not see each other anymore? What?"

"No! No, that wasn't what I meant." hurried Harm, alarmed over her panic. "Definitely not that. I meant that I want more for us."

"More?" a warmth suffused Jen's body. 'He wants more! With _me!_ But what exactly does he want? A fling? A relationship? What?'

"Yes, Jen." Harm got on his knee before her. "I want to marry you. I love you and I think you love me too and I would like us to get married."

Jen definitely didn't expect THAT. Thousands of questions overflowed her mind and she was reminded of why they hadn't gotten involved sooner. "What about the frat regs?"

Harm looked obviously relieved that she hadn't turned him down flat immediately. It meant he still had a fair chance if she was worried about it being according to the frat regs, it meant she wanted it but was afraid of them getting into trouble over it. "No problem. I talked to the Admiral..."

"You talked to the Admiral about this!?" her high-pitched, see-me-panic voice cut him off.

"Don't worry, he won't do anything. We've received permission to get involved, but there's a catch."

She had calmed down somewhat when the last part registered. "Catch? What catch? Of course there always has to be one. Damn catches."

He had to smile at her ramblings. "The catch is that in order for us to be together, we have to get married. I did a little, okay a lot, of research and that is the only way around the frat regs. Officers and enlisteds aren't allowed to be dating, but they are allowed to get married. I talked to the Admiral about this and he confirmed it. So, in order to be together, we have to get married first."

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AN: So, here is finally the proposal. It's not a terribly romantic one, but it's sincere. Besides, what would you expect of a guy, who is already extremely nervous and is risking EVERYTHING he has by just proposing. I would've been terrified in his shoes.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: do they intend to make this break down of the messaging/alert system a weekly thing? If so, I'm sooooooo not amused.

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"Married?" she was clearly dazed. Everything was happening too fast. Just a few minutes ago he was talking about 'more' and now he was talking about marriage.

This was big, really big and she needed time to take it all in. "This is big, Harm. Getting married without dating? What if we don't work? What if we find out we don't actually like each other and can't stand each other or being married?"

Harm took her hands in his and looked her straight in the eyes. "I believe, actually, I _know _we can make it work. We know each other better than most engaged couples do. We are so alike in so many aspects that there is no chance of us not liking each other. Many times during these past few months we were practically a married couple who has a teenage daughter, except for the intimacy marriage would give us. And it was working for us. It was working very well."

Jen looked at him, then hung her head and asked in a quiet voice. "What about LtCol Mackenzie? What if she suddenly decides she wants you? I know there's something between you two, the whole office knows."

Harm sighed. "You're right about that something."

Jen tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let her. "But that's in the past. We've both moved on. The fact that she's with someone else isn't the reason why I'm asking you to marry me. I realised last year that it would never have worked between Mac and I, there are too many issues, resentments, differences and bad blood between us. Even if she decides tomorrow that she wants me it wouldn't matter nor would it make me change my mind about you and me. I'm not asking because I want to move on from Mac, I already have, nor do I want you to be a rebound, I respect and care for you too much to ever do that to you. I'm asking because you're the only woman I can imagine spending the rest of my life and having a family with."

She smiled a little. "A family, huh? That sure of yourself?"

Harm grinned sheepishly. "Actually, no. But I am hopeful. I know you like kids and want them yourself, I want them also, but what is more is that I want them with you. Only you. You and I would make a great couple and make beautiful babies together." The last part was said with a suggestive waggle of his eyesbrows, making Jen laugh.

She mulled it over for a while. "What if I don't accept, what would you do then?"

A spark came to life in Harm's eyes, the way she had worded that question gave him high hopes. It sounded like she had already accepted, but wanted to know about his plans. "I would've transferred out. I know I wouldn't be able to work beside you anymore, it would've hurt too much."

She finally looked him in the eyes and said, almost giddily. "Then it's a good thing you won't have to, isn't it?"

A big, ear-to-ear smile started stretching Harm's face and his eyes shone brightly with love and happiness. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

"What do you think it means?" her smile was playful.

Harm's eyes narrowed in mock disapproval. "You know what I think it means. So does it mean what I think it means?"

This time her smile was genuine and serene. "Yes."

An absolutely goofy and happy smile appeared on Harm's face as he reached into his jacket pocket, produced a box and took a ring out of it. He then took her left hand in his own and slipped the ring on her finger. Jen wasn't passive during all this. As soon as he was done she pulled him into a long, drugging kiss.

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	14. Chapter 14

AN: Right, I think I have to say this.

Except for in the fic "Soulmates" you won't find first-date-sex in my fics. I want my couple to first get used to being in a relationship and get used to being a couple before I have them have sex.

Besides, they have to be married first before having sex, otherwise off to Courts-Martial-City they go. It's a legality thing...

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When they parted, several long minutes later, they were both panting heavily. Harm had a dazed look in his eyes and was almost speechless. "Wow." was the only thing the usually-quite-articulate Commander could manage. Jen wasn't much better. "Yeah." was her astute assesment.

Harm moved to Jen's side and tentatively slipped an arm around her shoulders and was pleasantly surprised when she settled against him determinedly, with a strong sense of entitlement.

"So, when do you think the wedding should be?" asked Harm after a while.

She turned her head to look up at him. "ASAP."

He smirked at her use of military terminology in such an intimate situation and at her wish to take him off the market as quickly as possible, very pleased that she couldn't wait to begin the rest of his life with him.

"I'm thinking next Saturday. We are both off-duty then, it's soon enough so we don't drag it on needlessly and far away enough so we can make some arrangements, notify people, get the license, and so on." she said after a few minutes of silence.

"Good. I'll call my mother and see if they can make it. But this wedding is about us and nobody else. If they can't make it, we'll be getting married anyway."

She looked at him puzzled. "You mean that."

He nodded. "Of couse. This is our wedding, it's about us and nobody else, not the guests, not my parents, not our friends. I would've been fine with just us and a Justice of Peace."

She looked down as if mulling something over. "Harm, do you know which judge is on duty on Saturday? I forgot namely."

He thought for a while. "I think it's Captain Sebring. Why?"

"What do you think of a military wedding?"

"I'm listening."

"Us, getting married in a military court, court room 3 is empty that day, by a military judge, in our uniforms."

He mused. "Hmmmm. I'm all for it if you are sure. But are you completely sure about wearing your uniform. Wouldn't you rather wear a wedding dress?"

Jen looked at him and smiled. "I'm proud of what I've accomplished in the Navy and I'm definitely not ashamed of wearing my uniform to my wedding. It's appropriate really. I mean, we met, got to know each other and fell in love in some part due to the Navy, we are both members of it and we are now getting married because the lawyers forgot to plug a loophole. I think it's only fitting we get married by a military judge, in military court, wearing our uniforms. Besides, everything would be out in the open, no sneaking around civilian court houses or sneaking around in general. It will prevent much of the gossip also, if we get married in that way."

Harm smiled. "Okay, then. But I think it would be better if we had Admiral Cheggwidden with us when we ask Sebring, so Sebring won't immediately have us arrested."

Jen smiled impishly. "I have a better idea. What if the Admiral were to call the Captain personally and ask him? That way he could explain the situation and we wouldn't get in trouble."

Harm grinned at Jen's deviousness. "Good idea. Let's meet with him on Monday and explain everything."

Jen nodded and leaned her head back on his shoulder, snuggling closer into him.

They spent the next hour that way, talking quietly and just enjoying the feel of the other in their arms, with no regs between them and no crisis or drama as an excuse.

When it was time to head back it was done so with the feelings of regret over having to leave this beautiful place. Harm promised Jen they would return soon. It was now their special place.

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	15. Chapter 15

AN: I'm really sorry to see this fic end, it's one of my favs and the idea nagged at me for a while before I wrote it down.

I would like to thank all of you who read and reviewed it. In aphabetical order: Bree, calamari77, ElDani, IrishJAG, liz, Lt. Col. Sarah MacKenzie Rabb, Lynnp, michelle UK, moat58, pryrmtns, qball, sohard2c, starryeyes10, Syrae, tj, TFD.

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I wasn't sure at first how this story would be received, solely due to it's title and the complete and utter political incorrectness of Harm's opening line.

No person should be viewed as property of someone else, nor do I approve of possessive and jealous traits in one partner of the couple, if they are above the acceptable level and are not appreciated by the target of these feelings. I've witnessed with my own eyes what a jealous and possessive, controlling person is capable of and definitely did not try to present Harm like that. I'm glad you all understood Harm's words as just teasing, meant to tease and shock Jen.

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I definitely didn't anticipate that so many people would like this fic, amounting to (to me) record-breaking number of reviews, 53 at the time I am posting this.

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When I first started writing (wrote the Harm/Mac fics, that are on this site, as just an experiment, a way to learn the craft of writing fan fiction and then immediately transferred to Harm/Jen ship for good, of which I was a fan ever since Harm asked Jen to move in with Mattie--haven't seen Season 8 still), Harm/Jen shippers were just a small community, with about 5 fics all together, unknown and hidden away.

This behaviour is not strange if you consider what kind of feedback writers of H&J ship received at that time, if they received feedback at all, from shippers of other pairings and from fans of other characters.

I think I can say with confidence that most of the flak that we received was from the fanatical part of the Mac fan-community (not all fans, just those fanatics who hate every character that is not Mac and especially hate Harm), because almost most H&J fans were/are devoted Harm fans. Especially the militant Mac fans were quite hostile and aggressive and with time took over many groups and boards of the Harm fan-community. They especially dislike Harm/Jen (for reasons which I won't speculate here) fiction and writers often received feedback in which they were accused of being "sick for pairing Harm and Jen up" or they were disgusted by the writer and the fic and the pairing.

I, myself, have received many such "complaints", many of which were quite vulgar personal insults, accusing me of being sick because I write opposite to what they like to read by having Harm stand up for himself and denying Mac her control over him and her toying with him. Also mainly becase I saw something between Harm and Jen and wanted Harm to be happy and out from under Mac's control, and was generally flamed for everything they could think of. Other writers have also received the same kind of feedback for the very same reasons. But we didn't submit and we fought/wrote on.

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I would like to thank Lynn and her husband for their continuous support and their encouragments, without which I would've given up on writing long ago. I would also like to thank Suz for her support and beta-reading many fics, like the first half of this fic (when I finally finished it I was too excited too send it for proof-reading, so I hope I didn't make too many errors). I would also like to thank JagHarmJenShippers yahoo group-members for their encouragment when I first started writing.

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Therefore I am happy to see that Harm/Jen ship has been established as an equal to other sideline pairings, and though it won't ever have as many writers/readers/fics as, for example, Mac/Cheggwidden or Mac/Webb, I am proud to have been part of the process and one of the few who still hold on and have been sticking with this pairing from the start.

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But, most of all, we, authors, have to thank you readers, who gave us, our fics and this pairing a chance. I would like to thank you (in the name of those authors who feel the same as I do) for supporting us, reading and reviewing our work and letting us know that you like what we write. This is the reason why we appreciate reviews so much, so we know people read what we write and like it. We would still write it w/o them, but knowing that it will be appreciated gives us the will and the motivation to writer more and to write faster.

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If anyone is interested in more Harm/Jen fiction and has read everything there is by me on this site, then visit: www. jagcorner. com (without the spaces) and there is a section of Harm/Jen fiction with most of the Harm/Jen fics there are out there. The author of that website has also one of her fics on ff. net under the name HarmJenShipper. There is also a wonderful fic "Not Sorry" by Medie, rated M, on fanfiction. net website that is Harm/Jen, even though it's classified as Harm/Other.

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P.S.: this is not my last Harm/Jen fic, not by a long shot. Currently I am in the process of writing a new one, where I'll be throwing them into another trying situation. Don't know when it'll be finished, cause it's gonna be a long one, but I'll make sure to finish it.

Take care and enjoy this last part!

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On Monday morning Harm and Jen requested a meeting with the Admiral.

The rest of their weekend had been spent with Mattie as a real family.

Upon hearing the news Mattie's screams had had the window panes shaking in their frames. After she was done screaming, jumping up and down and hugging the life out of them, she had finally managed to calm down enough to congratulate them. She'd then quickly called all of her friends to tell them the news of the impending marriage (they all knew Harm and Jen since Jen had to occasionally go pick up Mattie when Harm couldn't. From this arrangement they all suspected something more between the two adults and were quite envious of Jen, since they had crushes on him, along with a few single mothers of these friends.). After getting the confirmation from a fiercely blushing Jen that she could call her 'Mom' (she had already asked Harm if she could call him 'Dad' when he told her of his intentions of marrying Jen) Mattie had spent the rest of the weekend walking on clouds.

Jen had later quietly confessed to Harm that never in her life did she have the idea that she would be a mother to a 15 year old at the age of just 28. Harm assured her that she had already been a mother figure to Mattie for the last few months and was fantastic at it, and Jen's fears of failing as a mother had been disbanded when she realized that he was right.

Harm and Jen hadn't progressed past occasional kisses and were in no hurry to do so. They would have the rest of their lives for more and they didn't want to push the envelope by having sex before having the legal security and protection of marriage keeping their backs safe.

The phone call to Harm's mother had been... interesting.

After screaming her head off over the news out of happiness, she told him off for waiting so long with settling down, then told him off for never telling her about being involved with Jen, followed by the stupefied silence when he'd told her of the circumstances and finally she wanted to talk to Jen. The talk went quite well, in Jen's opinion. Jen and Trish had talked one or two times on the phone before, when neither Harm nor Mattie had been home and Jen picked up the receiver. Trish genuinely liked the young woman and was glad that Harm and Mattie had her in their lives. It was obvious to her that Jen really cared for them and the only reason why she'd never tried to convince Harm to give it a try with Jen was because she, as a Navy wife, was well aware of the regs. The ingenious way of dealing with the regs that her son had come up with and the fact that they were getting married warmed her heart and gave her the hope for a few grandchildren in the future. After talking to Jen for over 15 minutes, during which Harm was going crazy with worry over what the two women were talking about, Trish had promised Jen that she and Frank would be there for the wedding.

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Harm and Jen had just sat down when the Admiral launched into the conversation.

"Judging from the two of you coming in together, both apparently glowing and from the rock on your finger, Petty Officer, I won't have to start writing up transfer orders for you, Commander?"

"That's correct, sir." beamed Harm.

"Sir." started Jen "We have a request."

They had agreed that Jen would do the talking, because of reasons that Harm believed were legitimate.

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_"He likes you better, he won't blow his top. Besides, he's always been nicer to women than he has to men. Meg, Mac, Harriet, you... And I'm his whipping boy..."_

_"He doesn't like me. He yelled at me just a few weeks ago."_

_"Yeah, but only because you kept pushing. He had a reason. He yells at me for no reason at all many times. Why do you think Mac and Sturgis didn't like it here while I was working for the Agency and why Mac wanted me to come back? One single reason: they had no-one to take the flak for them. Mac finally got a small taste of all the flak I shielded her from for all these years. If you talk to him he'll listen and be more willing to help."_

_She loooked thoughtful for a while. "You're right, I'll do it."_

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"I'm listening." said the Admiral, leaning his elbows on the table.

"We would like to get married here at JAG this Saturday and would be grateful if you asked Captain Sebring if he were willing to officiate the wedding."

The Admiral smirked. "You're scared he would have you two arrested for fraternization on the spot, aren't you?"

Their guilty expressions confirmed his suspicions, widening his smirk. "No problem. I'll explain everything to him and then ask him to do it. I'll inform you two of his decision. Is there anything else?"

This time Harm spoke up. "Yes, sir, I would like to ask you if you would be willing to be my best man."

Cheggwidden's eyebrows rose to his hairline and a pleased smile tugged at his lips. "I would be honored, Commander, thank you. If that's all, then you're dismissed so I can call Captain Sebring and get the ball rolling."

Harm and Jen stood to attention and left the office.

20 minutes later they received a call from the Admiral informing them that Captain Sebring had agreed to officiate the wedding.

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And this is how it came to be that Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. and Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Coates were wed in a military ceremony before a military court by a military judge, while wearing their uniforms and surrounded by their family and friends.

Except for Mac, because Webb was finally in town again and she was also angry that Harm wasn't interested in her anymore, even though she had told him a year earlier that she didn't want him.

Trish and Frank were there and neither had a dry eye (even though Frank tried to hide it and later claimed that something had fallen into his eye).

Jen was right about the gossip. After the initial shock and surprise over them getting together, much less getting married, things settled down quickly. Their spot as the number 1 gossip topic was replaced by the news of Mac breaking up with Webb after she found out he was cheating on her and had in fact, a new woman in every place he went to, while they were dating. Harm snorted to himself when he found out about it. Mac knew that about Webb and still she expected the man, who was a natural born womanizer and player, to give up his ways of surrounding himself with beautiful women and be true to just one, just because she thought he should/would. The man, who had been seen with a different woman on his arm every day would never change, yet Mac had fooled herself into believing the opposite.

(AN: "Boomerang 1&2".)

The investigation into Harm and Jen's possible prior fraternization wasn't without it's problems either. The initial investigator was recalled and was himself charged with several charges of several counts of sexual harrassment, fraternization, harrassment, disrespect towards superior officers, disrespect towards fellow (female) officers, use of illegal and unethical procedures, fraud, disrespect towards the Court,... The investigator, one LT Vukovic, was stripped of rank, disbarred and sent to Leavenworth where he would spend a good 20 years being a girlfriend to big guys named Bubba. All of his victims and the people affected by his actions and the people (mostly women) used by him, agreed that it was a truly appropriate punishment for the self-centered, womanizing, young man, who viewed women only as conquests and pieces of meat. After that scandal the investigation was closed and Harm and Jen were cleared of all suspicion.

The wedding was a nice, intimate affair. Only Harm, Jen, Mattie, Frank, Trish and their closest co-workers, together with the Admiral as the best man and Harriet as the Maid of Honor, were attending. Everyone attending (except for the 3 civilians) were in their Mess Dress uniforms, creating a lovely picture. The groom and the beautiful blushing bride glowed with love and happiness and had eyes only for each other. They couldn't wait to finally be married and to start their life together. Starting with their honeymoon, compliments of Harm's parents.

It took the Admiral reminding them of their agreement to behave according to protocol while on duty for them to finally break their kiss. It had looked like they had no intention of stopping nor breathing.

Sebring couldn't help himself but end his speech of "Introducing for the first time in public Commander and Petty Officer Rabb." with a bang of the gavel.

And thus Harmon and Jennifer Rabb entered a new stage of life in which they would bask until the end of their lives.

For the fates have spoken.

THE END


End file.
